Foundation Of The Singapore Institution 1823

OF THB

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

A. D. 1823.

MALACCA:
PRINTED AT THE MISSION PRESS.

1823.

J

_

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

&C. &C,

AT a Meeting of the principal Inhabitants of Sin-
gapore, held at the Residency- House on the 1st
of April, \H>.i. The Ho.,. Sir T. S. Raffles,
Lieutenant-Governor of Fort Marlborough and
its Dependencies presiding.

Sir Stamfohd Raffles stated, that he had con-
vened the present meeting for the purpose of laying
before the public the arrangements which he had
adopted for the Estabh'sment of an Institution at
Singapore, hating for its object the cultivation of
the languages of China, Slam, and the Malayan
Archipelago; and the improvement of the moral
and intellectual condition of the inhabitants of those
countries.

He observed, that he had for mnny years con-
templated the advantages which might arise from
affording the means of education to the inhabitants

A 2

4

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

of the Malayan Archipelago, and that shortly after
the establishment of the British Government in
Singapore, he had suggested a plan for attaining
this object by the establishment of an institution
of the nature of a Native College ; but that from
political and other circumstances, the establishment
of the proposed institution had been delayed till
the present period. That providence however bad
recently brought to these shores that excellent and
good man Dr. Morrison, the founder and president
of tbe Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca; and that,
in concert with him, a plan had now been adopted
and decided upon, for removing that College to
Singapore ,and uniting it with the proposed Malayan
College, under the general designation of the " Sin-
gapore Institution."

Sir Stamford Raffles then submitted, in the form
of a Minute, which he was desirous of placing on the
records of the institution, his ideas on the advantages
of a Malayan College, as first contemplated by him,
together with a paper containing the suggestions
of Dr. Morrison, for uniting the two Colleges in
one general institution, observing, that as these do-
cuments would shew not only the objects and viewi
of the Founders of the Singapore Institution, as
now adopted, but the progress by which its estab-
lishment was brought about, it became unnecessary
for him to detain them by further observations.

The said papers were then read for general infor-
mation, being as follows '

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

I

MINUTE BY SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES

ON THB

ESTABLISHMENT OF A MALAYAN COLLEGE
AT SINGAPORE.

IT is llie peculiar characteristic of Great Britain, that
wherever her influence has been extended, it lias carried ci-
vilization and improvement in its train. To whatever quar-
ter of the world her arms or her policy have led her, it has
been her object to extend those blessings of freedom and
justice for which she herself stands so pre-eminent. Whe-
ther in asserting the rights of independent nations, whether
advocating the cause of the captive and the slave, or
promoting the diffusion of truth and knowledge, England
has always led the van, In the vast regions of India where
*he has railed an empire unparalleled in history, no sooner
was the sword of conquest sheathed, than her attention was
turned to the dispensing of justice, to giving security to the
persons ai u property, and to the improvement of the con-
ditinn of her new subjects— to a reform in the whole judi-
cial and revenue administration of the country, to the estab-
lishment of a system of internal management calculated to
relieve the inhabitants from oppression and exaction, and
to the dissemination of those principles and that knowledge
which should elevate the people whom conquest had placed
under her sway, and thus to render her own prosperity de-
pendant on that of the people over whom she ruled. A de-
aire to know the origin and enrly history of the people,
their institutions, laws, and opinions, led to association*
expressly directed to this end; while by the application of

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

tlie information iritis obtained to the present circumstance!
of the country, the spirit and principles of British rule have
rapidly augmented the power, and increased the resources of
the state, at ihe same lime that they have in no less degree
tended to excite the intellectual energies and 'ncrease the
individual happiness of the people.

Tiie acquisitions of Great Britain in the East have nol
been made in the spirit of conquest } a concurrence of cir-
cumstances not to be controulrd, and the energies of her
sons have carried hrr forward on a tide whose impulse
has been irresistible. Oilier nation* may have purstud the
same course of conquest and success, but they have not
like her paused in their career, and by moderation and jus-
tice consolidated what they had gained. Thin is the rock
on which her Indian empire is placed, and it is on a perse-
verance in the principles which have already guided her
that she must depend for maintainirg her commanding
station, and lor saving her from adding one more to the list
of those who have contended for empire, and have sunk be»
neath the weight of their own ambition. Conquest has led
to conquest, and our influence must continue to extend;
the tide has received its impetus and it would be in vain to
attempt to stem its current, but let the same principles
be kept in view, let our minds and policy expand with our
empire, and it will not only be the greatest, but the firmest
and most enduring that has yet bren held forth to the view
and admiration of the world. While we raise those in the
scale of civilization over whom our influence or our empire
is extended, we shall lay the foundations of our dominion
on the firm basis of justice and mutual advantage, instead
of the uncertain und unsubstantial tenure of lurce and in*
trigue.

Such have been the principles of our Indian administra-
tion wherever we have acquired a territorial influence; it

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION. f

to be «>™d«ed h. w .hey can be be.t applied to
canine, where territory is not our object, but « (0in .
mere. ■ ,. not less es.ential ,„ our interest.. With the coun-
try Last of Bengal an cxten.ive commercial illlcrcnurse
.... M^mkf. carried on, and our i, fW is „ !( , re M
less felt throughout the whole-fron, ,|, e hi „ lli8 „ f lhe
Ganges to China and N«» Holland. Recent ,, ave
d.rec,, <)ursll i(Jnlolh ^ r; i|la[)iiri ,. u|ar mMM(

to h« MoUjna Arch.pelago, »*•« a km. field of co mer-
j:« I speculation ha, |„ en ,„ e, ,d, ,| ie limit, „ f wl , i , ll it
» d.fl*«U to foresee. A variety of circumstances have con-
curred .o extend our connexions in this ouaner, and late
arrangements have added „ lutll t() t|leir 1I11( , ( , rtance ^
cunstderawon. Our connexion with ihem however stand,
on a very d.ff-ren, footing f rom U.at with the people of
fcdl.J however inviting and extensive their resource., it i.
considered that they can he be., drawn for;!, bv .he native
energ.e. of ,he people thermelvesj and chat i't j, h V Am
recprocaUdvant.ges of commerce, and commerce alone
that we „ ay h.., pron.o.e , ur own „„„„„ „, d ^.
■dvapcement. A few .ution, are occupied lor the security
and prolMio. of our trade, and the indepe, den,e of „|| Z
Mrxound.ng ..ate, i, not only acknowledged but remained
and su()|u>ried by us.

Commcr.e being therefore ,he principle on which our
connexion, with the Ectern State, are formed, it behove.
U. to consider the effect, which h i, calculated ,o pn duce.
Commerce universally allowed to bring w ,„, t***fl s i n
U WHO, and ,n particular to be favourable to civilization
and general improvement. L,ke all o.l er powerful .cent,
however, it ha. proved lhe cause of many evil, when impro-
perly directed or not sufficiently con.rouled. It create,
wants and introduce, luxurie., but if there exist no princi-
ple for the regulation of thee, and if there be nothing to

8 MNCAPORE institution.

check their influence, sensuality, vice, and corruption will
be the necessary results. Where the social institutions arc
favourable to independence and improvement, where the
intellectual powers are cultivated and expanded, commerce
opens a wider field for their exertion, and wealth and
refinement become consistent with all that ennobles and
exalts human nature. Education must keep pace with
commerce in order that its benefits may be ensured and its
evils avoided, and in our connexion with these countries,
it should be our care that while with one hand we carry to
their shores the capital of our merchants, the other should
be stretched forth to offer them the means of intellectual
improvement. Happily our policy is in accordance with
these views and principles, and neither in the state of the
countries themselves, nor in the character of their varied
and extensive population, do we find any tiling opposed.
On the contrary, they invite us to the field, and every mo-
tive of humanity, policy, and religion, seen s to combine
to recommend our early attention to this important object.

A few words will be sufficient to shew the nature at d ex-
tent of this field. Within its narrowest limits it embraces
the whole of that vast Archil elago which stretching from
Sumatra and Java to the Islands of the Pacific, and thence
to the shores of China and Japan, has in all ages excited
the attention and attracted the cupidity of more civilized
nations ;— whose valuable and peculiar productions contri-
buted to swell the extravagance of Roman luxury, and in
more modern times has raised the power and consequence
of every successive European nation into whose hands
Its commerce has fallen ;— it has raised several of these
from insignificance and obscurity to power and eminence,
and perhaps in its earliest period among the Italian states,
communicated the first electric spark which awoke to life
the energies and the literature of Europe, The Native

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION. 9

population of th« e interesting Islands cannot be estimated
at less than from ten to fifteen millions, of which Java alone
contains five or six, and Sumatra not less than three.

In a more extensive view must be included the rich and
populous countries of Ava and Siam, Caml.oj;,, Cochin-
China and Tonkin, the population of which is still more
extensue than that of the Islands. And if to this we add
the numerous Chinese population which is dispersed
throughout these countries, and through the means of whom
Ihe hght of knowledge may be extended to the remotest
part of the Chinese empire and even to Japan, it will
read.lv be acknowledged that the field is perhaps the most
«tens,ve, interesting, and important, t|, at ever offered itself
to the contemplation of the philanthropic and enlightened
mi iid.

When we descend to particulars, and consider the pre-
«nt state and circumstances of this extensive and varied
population, and the history and character of the nations and
lr.be, of which it i, composed, we shall be more convinced
of the necessity which exists, and of the advantages which
must result from affording them the means of education
and improvement. Among no people with whom we have
become acquainted shall we find greater aptness to receive
instruction, or fewer obstacles in the way of its commu-
nication.

Of the Malay, who inhabit the interior of Sumatra, and
ire settled on the Coasts throughout the Archipelago, it
may be necessary to speak in the first place. The peculiar
character of these people has always excited much atten-
tion, and various and opposite opinions have been enter-
lamed regarding them. By some who have viewed only
the .larker side, they have been considered, with refer-
ence to their piracies and vices alone, as a people devoid of
»H regular government and principle, and abandoned to the

H

)0 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

influence of lawless and ungovernable passtoni. By otheri
however who have taken a deeper view, ard have become
more intimately acquainted with their character, a different
estimate has been formed. They admit the want of effi-
cient government, but consider the people themselves lo
be possessed of high qualities, and such as might under
more .favourable tircumstances be usefully and beneficially
direcird. Tiiev find in the personal independence of cha-
racter which they display, their high sense of honour and
impatience of insult, and in their habits of reasoning and
reflection, the rudiments of improvement and the basis of a
better order of society, while in the obscurity, of their early
history, the wide diffusion of their language and the traces
of their former greatness, they discover an infinite source
of speculation and interest.

That they once occupied a more commanding political
station in these seas appears to be beyond a doubt, and
that they maintained this position until after the intro-
duction of Maliomedanism seems equally certain, From
the geographical situation of the more important countries,
then occupied by them, they were the first to come in con-
tact with Mussulman Missionaries, and lo embrace their
tenets. Their power Was on the decline when European!
first visited ■ heir sea'. At that period however, the autho-
rity of Mennngkabau, the ancient seat of government, was
s ill acknowledged, and the states of Acheen and Malacca
long disputed the progress of the Portuguese arms. The
whole of Sumatra at one period was subject lo the supreme
power of Menangkahau, and evidence of the former gran-
deur and su eriority of this state are still found not only in
the pompous edicts of its sovereigns, and in the veneration
and respect paid to the most distant branches of the family,
but in the comparatively high and improved state of culti-
vation of the country, and in the vestiges of antiquity which

SINGAPORE INSTITimOV. u

have recently been discovered in it. This country occupies
the central district! ofSumaira, and contains between one
and two millions of inhabitants* the whole of whom with
the exception of such as may be employed in the gold
mines for which it has always been celebrated, are devoted
to agriculture. The remains of sculpture and inscriptions
found near the ancient capital correspond witli those disco-
vered in Java, and prove them to have been under the in-
fluence of the same Hindoo faith which prevailed on that
Ma.,,1 till the establishment of Mahomedanism there in the
fifteenth century.

At what „rriod the people of Menangkabau embraced
the doctrines of the prophet does not appear, and would
form an interesting subject of enquiry. The conversion of
M..I uca and Acrreen took place in the thirteenth century,
but it is uncertain whether Menangkabau was converted
previous to tins date, although the religion is said to have
been Breached in Sumatra a* early as the twelfth century.
It was about this latter period JlfiO, that a colony would
appear to have issued from the interior of Sumatra, and
established the maritime state of Siogapura at the ex-
tremity of the Malay Peninsula, where a line of Hindoo
princes continued to reign until the e<i a blishment of Ma-
lacca and the conversion of that place in Vl'JG. Whatever
may in more remote times have been the nature of the in-
tercourse between foreign nations and Menangkahau itself,
we know that Siugapura during the period noticed was an
extensively maritime and commercial stale, and that on the
first arriv.l of the Portuguese at Malacca, that emporium
embraced tne largest portion of the commerce between
Sastara and Western nations. It is not necessary to enter
into the history of the decline and fall of the Malay states
of Malacca and Acheen, or of the establishment of Johor,
The maritime and toiamercial enterprize of the people had

12 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

nir.-a.lv spread them far and wide through the Archipelago,
and the power and policy of their European visitors, by
breaking down their larger settlement!, contributed to scat-
ter them still wider, and to force them to form still smaller
establishments wherever they could escape their power and
vigilance.

The opinion generally formed of the character of this
people having been taken from the maritime states, it may
be sufficient on the present occasion to advert to some par-
ticulars in the constitution of their government and to the
habits and character of the people who compose them.

The government of these slates, which are established in
more or less power on the different rivers on the Eastern
Coast of Sumatra and on the Malay Peninsula, as well as
en the Coast of Borneo and throughout the smaller Islands,
is founded on principles entirely feudal. A high respect is
paid to the person and family of the prince, who usually
traces his descent through a long line of ancestors generally
originating on the Malayan side from Menangkabau or Jo-
hor, and not unfrequently on the Mahomedan side from
the descendants of the prophet. The nobles are chiefs at
the head of a numerous train of dependants whose services,
they command. Their civil institutions and internal policy
are a mixture of the Mohamedan with their own more anci-
ent and peculiar customs and usages, the latter of which
predominate: in the principal states they are collected in an.
ill-digested code but in the inferior establishments they are
trusted to tradition.

The Malays with all their faults are distinguished not on-
ly by the high respect they pay to ancestry, and nobility
Of descent, and theii entire devotion to their chiefs, and to the
cause they undertake, but by a veneration and reverence for
the experience and opinions of their elders. They never
enter on an enterprise without duly weighing its advantage*

S1NGAP0RB INSTITUTION. 13

tnd consequences, but when once embarked in it, ihey
devote themselves to its accomplishment. They are sparing
of their labour and are judicious in its application, but when
roused into action are not wanting in spirit and enthusiasm.
In their commercial dealings they are keen and speculative,
and a spirit of gaming is prevalent, but in their general ha-
bits they are far from penurious.

With a knowledge of this character, we may find in
the circumstances in which they have been placed some
excuse for the frequent piracies, and the practice of " run-
ning a muck" with which they have so often and justly
been accused. That European policy which first destroyed
the independence of their more respectable states and sub-
sequently appropriated to itself the whole trade of ihe
Archipelago, left them without the means of honest subsis-
tence, while by the extreme severity of its tortures and
punishments it drove them to a state of desperation. Thu§
piracy became honorable, and that devotion which on ano-
ther occasion would have been called a virtue became
a crime.

Of the Javans a higher estimate may be formed } though
wanting in the native boldness and enterprize of character
which distinguishes the Malays, they have many qualities in
common with them, but bear deeper traces of foreign in-
fluence and at the present period at least stand much higher
in the scale of civilization. They are almost exclusively
agricultural, and in the extraordinary fertility of their coun-
try they find sufficient inducements to prefer a life of com-
parative ease and comfort within their own shores to one of
enterprize or hazard beyond them. The causes which have
contributed to their present improved state are various, and
however interesting, it would swell this paper beyond iti
due limits to enter on them.
The Madurese who inhabit the neighbouring Island are

14 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

dislinguishtd for more spirit and enterprise, but the people
in that quarter who more peculiarly attract our inlereit are
those of Bali, an Island King immediately East of Java, and
who at the present day exhibit the extraordinary fact of the
existence of an independent Hindoo government in this
remote quarter of the East. It was in this Island, that on
the establishment of Mahumedanism in Java in the fifteenth
century, the Hindoos who adhered to their original faith
look refuge, where they have preserved the recollection of
their former greatness and the records and form of their
religion. This Island no part of which has ever been sub-
jected to European authority, contains with Lombok imme-
diately adj uining, a population not far short of a million.
The shores are unfavourable to commerce and the people
have not hitherto been much inclined to distant enterprise.
The Island itself has long been subjected to all the horrors
of an active Slave Trade, by which means its inhabitants
have been distributed among the European settlements.
A more honest commerce however lias been latterly attract-
ed to it, and both Uugguese and Chinese have formed small
establishments in the principal towns. In their personal
character they are remarkable for a high inde|>enderice and
impatience of controul. A redundant population added to
the Slave Trade has separated them into various states
which are generally at war with each other.

In the island of Celebes we find the people of a still
more enterprising character, the elective form of their go-
vernment lifters a singular anomaly among Asiatic States,
and is not the least peculiar of their institutions. The Bug-
guesc are the most adventurous traders of the Archipelago,
to every part of which they carry their speculations and
even extend them to the Coast of New Holland. They are
remarkable for fair dealing and the extent of their transac-
tions. They were converted to Mahomedanism at a much

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

15

later period than either the Javans or Malays and not gene-
rally till afier ihe arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth
century. This Island contains an extensive population but
its interior and North Western provinces are but little
known and are inhabited by ihe same description of uncul-
tivated people as are found in the interior of Borneo and
the larger Islands to the Eastward.

Of the population of the Moluccas it may be remarked
that they are for the most part Christians of the Lutheran
persuasion. The magnitude and importance of Borneo
more peculiarly attracts our attention. Malay settlements
are formed on its principal rivers, and extensive colonies of
Citinese have established themselves in the vicinity of the
Gold Mines a short distance inland, but the interior of the
Island is yet unknown. Various estimates of its population
have been funned but the data are too uncertain to be de-
pended upon. The tribes which inhabit the interior differ
much in character, but the majority appear to be agricul-
tural, and a race of people who might be easily improved
and civilized. Others again are extremely barbarous, and it
must be admitted that the practice of man-hunting for
the purpose of obtaining the heads of the victims is too fre-
quent throughout. Of this latter description are various
tribes still inhabiting the interior of Celebes, Ceram and Je-
lolo usually known by the name of Harafuras or Alfoors.

If we add to the above, the population of the Philip-
pines, which is not estimated at less lhan three millions,
Magindanao and the Soolo Archipelago, the Battas and
other inteiior tribes of Sumatra, and the Woolly-headed
race occasionally found on the Peninsula and the larger
Islands and more extensively established in Papua or New
Guinea, some idea may be formed of the extent and nature
of the varied population of this interesting Archipelago.
But the nun erous Chinese settlers who now form a consi-

16 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

durable portion of this population and who have given a
stimulus to the industry of its inhabitants must not be
passed over in silence. In the bland of Java the number
of these settlers is not less than 100,000; a similar num-
ber is to be found in Siam ; in Borneo they are still more
numerous, and they are to be met with in every well regu-
lated slate. The valuable Gold Mines of the latter Island
have offered a powerful inducement to their establishment :
they are worked almost exclusively by Chinese, and an
extensive population of Dayaks from the interior are rapidly
extending cultivation in their vicinity. There seems to
be no limits to the increase of Chinese on this Island,
the redundance of population in the Mother Country, the
constant intercourse which exists with it, and the induce-
ments afforded for colonization in a new soil, where in
addition to agricultural and commercial resources, the pro-
duce of gold and diamonds appears to be only propor-
tioned to the labour employed, are such that to a specula-
ting and industrious people like the Chinese, they must
continue to operate in spite of political restrictions and
partial exactions. It deserves remark that of all the in-
habitants of the Archipelago, the Chinese as well from their
assimilating more with the customs of Europeans than the
native Mahomedans, as from their habits of obedience and
submission to power, are uniformly found to be the most
peaceable and improveable.

From the review now taken it will be seen how varied is
the population of this Archipelago both in character and
employments, and that it consists both of agricultural and
commercial classes, of different ranks in the scale of each,
from the wildest tribes who seek a precarious subsistence in
their woods and forests to the civilized Javan who has
drawn forth the riches of his unequalled soil and made
it the Granary of these Islands : and from the petty trader

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION, ]7

who collects the scattered produce of the interior, to the
Chinese capitalist who receives it from them, and disperses
it again to more distant regions. Situated between ihe rich
and populous Continents of China on the one hand and India
on ihc other, and furnishing to Europe the means of an ex-
tensive commerce, the demand for the produce of those Is-
lands is unfailing, and that produce is only limited by Ihe
extent of the population. By means of the variety of its
tribes, their intermixture and connexion with each other,
and the accessible nature of the Coasts washed by the
smoothest seas in the world, while large and navigable rivers
open communication with the interior, the stimulus of this
commerce is propagated in successive waves through the
whole, and ihe inexhaustible resouces of the Country are
drawn forth in a manner and to an extent that could not
otherwise have been obtained. Each is drpendant on the
other and receives and communicates a portion of ihe gene-
ral activity. Thus the savage and intractable B.ilta collects
and furnishes the Camphor and Benjamin the spontaneous
produce of his woods, the equally barbarous Dajak and wild
Harafura ransacks the bowels of the earth for its Gold and
Hs Diamonds, the inhabitants of Soolo seeks for the Pearl
beneath the waters that surround him, and others traverse
the shores for the Tripang or Sea Slug, or descend into its
rocky caverns for the Chioese luxury of bird's nests. As-
cending from these we find the more civilized Sumatran,
whose agriculture is yet rude, employed in the raising of
Pepper, the Native of Moluccas in the culture of the Nut-
meg and the Clove, the still higher Javan and Siamese be-
sides their abundant harvests of Rice, supplying Europe
with their CohVe and Sugar, and all impelled and set in mo-
tion by the spirit of commerce. Not less varied are (he
people who collect this produce from all these different
quarters till it is finally shipped for Europe India and

l>

■J 8 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

China, /rom the petty bartering trader who brings it from
the interior to llie ports and mouths of the rivers, the Malay
who conveys it from. p»rt to port, the more adventurous
Bugguese who sleeps ihe remote shores to concentrate
their produce at the Emporia, to the Chinese merchant who
tends his junks laden with this accumulated produce to be
dispersed through the empire of China and furnishes Euro-
peans with the cargoes of their ships. Through the same
diverging channels are again circulated the manufactures of
India and Europe and thus a constant intercourse and circu-
lation is maintained through the whole. How much litis
intercourse is facilitated by the nature of the countries,
broken into innumerable islands may be readily conceived,
and the vastness of the field may be inferred from the
extent to which its commerce has actually been carried un-
der every disadvantage of monopolizing policy and of insecu-
rity of person and property by which the condition of the
people has been depressed and their increase prevented.
When we consider that they are placed at the very thresh-
old of China, a country overflowing with an enterprizing
and industrious population anxious and eager to settle
wherever security and protection is afforded, that it is this
people who have chiefly contributed to maintain and sup-
port the energies of the native population and have diffus-
ed the stimulus of their own activity wherever they have
settled, and that protection only is wanted to accumulate
them in any numbers, to create it may be said a second
China, the resources and means of this extraordinary Archi-
pelago will appear without limits.

Viewed in this light, Borneo and the Eistern Islands may
become to China, what America is already to the nations of
Europe. The superabundant and overflowing population,
of China affords an almost inexhaustible source uf coloniza-
tion, while the new and fer'.ile suil of these islands oG^rs

SINGAPOUE INSTITUTION. J 9

the means of immediate and plentiful subsistence to any
number* who may settle in them. How rapidly under such,
circumstances these colonies may increase in population
where the climate is at least as congenial to the Chinese a*
that of America to Europeans, may be readily 'conceived
from the experience which the latter has afforded. The
wealth of their mines and the extent of their own native po-
pulation added to tiie greater proximity of China, are ad-
vantages which were not enjoyed by America, and must
contribute to accelerate the progress of colonization.

A scene like this cannot be viewed with indifference by
the philosophic and contemplative mind ; the diversified
form in which the human character is exhibited, the new
and original features which it displays, and the circumstances
which have restrained or accelerated the developement of
our nature in these extensive and remote regions, offer sour-
ces of almost inexhaustible enquiry and research, while the ob-
scurity which dirkens the origin and early history of the peo-
ple, the peculiarity of their languages laws and customs, and
the vestiges which remain of a higher state of the arts and of
learning, offer in a literary and scientific view pursuits of no
less interest than importance—Placed as we shall be in the
very centre of this Archipelago, the life and soul of its ex-
tensive commerce, and maintaining with its most distant parts
and with the adjacent Continent a constant and rapidly in-
creasing intercourse, the means are afforded to us above all
other nations of prosecuting these studies with facility and
advantage.

We here find human nature at its lowest point in the
Woolly-headed savage who roams his woods in absolute na-
kedness, deriving a precarious subsistence from roots and
fish and with no other habitation than a cavern or a tree;
we can trace the progress of improvement in those whose
agriculture is yet in its infancy, who clear a portion of their

20 SINCAPORB rNSTlTLTIOK.

woods by fire and take a contingency out of it by planting a
little rice in the soil thus enriched by the ashes. We dwell
with more pleasure on those rich tracts of cultivation which
tidorn the slopes of the central districts of Java and Suma-
tra, where the mountain torrent is arrested in its course and
made to flow over and fertilize successive terraces on which
abundant havests are reaped. We shall meet with slates that
have risen bv eommerce to wealth and eminence, and have
now sunk since her sail has been displayed on other shores.
To the Historian and the Antiquarian, the field here pre-
sented is unbounded. The latter will trace in the languages
and monuments, the origin ai d early history of these inter-
esting people, lie will find the Malayan language diffused
under various modifications from Madagascar on the Coast
of Africa to the Islands of the Pacific, he will find it con-
nected with Hinduism by an influx of Sanscrit words and
will trace the effects of subsequent conversion in an acces-
sion of Arabic terms. In their ancient monuments and in-
scription, he will find proofs of the existence of the faith of
Hi an a or of lioudli, and of their greatness as nations in the
magnitude of their remains. He will find temples and sculp-
tures which rival in grandeur and extent those of continen-
tal Jndia, and through the mists of tradition will discover
the faint light of glories that have past away. He will fii.d
languages of singular perfection and lichness that are no-
longer understood except by the learned, in short he will
find abundant proof of a furmer high stale of civilization
from which they have fallen. The causes of this declension,
the vicissitudes they have undergone and their history in
more modern limes when the progress of the Mussulman
faith and of European arms overturned and threw into con-
fusion the ancient order of tilings, are subjects not less
interesting than untouched. Three centuries of intercourse
have given but little information upon these and oilier

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

21

interesting points. War and commerce has hitherto ab-
torbed the attention of (hose who have visited these regions,
with some exceptions, which have rather served to excite
than to gratify curiosity. Late years have been more fertile
*nd have opened ttie way to further enquiries, and the spirit
which has been awakened should not be suffered to sleep.

It would be endless to point out the desiderata which yet
remain to be supplied, or the subjects of interest which yet
remain to be investigated. The origin of Bouddhism, as it
may be traced in Siam and particularly Laos and other
countries not yet visited by Europeans but with which a
commercial intercourse exists, is not the least of these.
The objects of science are not less numerous, to say no-
thing of the vast field which the immense empire of China
opens to the speculative mind. Through the means of
her native traders who frequent these seas and are protect-
ed by our flag, we have it in our power to prosecute the
most extensive researches, and to communicate as well as
receive information which may be reciprocally useful and
acceptable. While as a manufacturing nation we are com-
pelled to supply this empire with the raw produce of our
territories, we can never want an interest in enquiring into
the principles and means by which they are thus able to
supersede us even with the advantage of our unrivalled Ma-
chinary. The Chinese mind itself, the literature and cha-
racter of this extraordinary people, of whom so little is
known that their place and rank in the scale of civilization
is yet undetermined, are questions which have long attract-
ed the attention of the Western world. The current of their
ideas, the mould of their minds, and the whole bent and
direction of their powers difler so much from our own,
that an estimate of them is no easy task. We find them
dispersing themselves abroad, and carrying with them a spi-
rit of enterprise and speculation combined with an industry

E

22 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION,

and prudence that makes them flourish and acquire opu-
lence wherever they settle.

Such is ihe range of enquiry open to the philosopher,
but to him who is interested in the cause of humanity, who
thinks that the diffusion of the humanizing arts is as essen-
tial to the character of our nation as the acquisition of
power and wealth, and that wherever our flag is carried it
should confer the benefits of eiviliz ilion on those whom it
protects, it will appear no less important, that in propor-
tion as we extend the field of our own enquiry and informa-
tion, we should apply it to the advantage of those with whom
we are connected, and endeavour lo diffuse among them the
light of knowledge and the means of moral and intellectual
improvement.

The object of our stations being confined to the protec-
tion and encouragement of a free and unrestricted com-
merce with the whole of these countries, and our establish-
ments being on this footing and principle, no jealousy can
exist where we make our enquiries. When the man of
science enquires for the mineral or vegetable productions of
any particular country, or the manner in which the fieldi
are cultivated or the mines worked, no motive will exist for
withholding information, hut if in return we are anxious
and ready to disseminate the superior knowledge we our-
■elves possess, how much shall we increase this readiness
and desire on the part of the natives, and what may not be
the extent of the blessings we may in exchange confer on
these extensive regions. How noble the object, how bene-
ficial th* effects, to carry with our commerce the lights of
instruction and moral improvement. How much more ex-
alted the character in which we shall appear, how much
more congenial to every British feeling. By collecting the
traditions of the country, and affording the means of in-
struction to all who visit our stations, we shall give an

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

23

additional inducement to general intercourse; while the
merchant will pursue hi* gain, the representative of our
government will acquire a higher character and more gene-
ral respect, by devoting a portion of his time to the diffu-
sion of that knowledge and of those principle* which form
the happiness and basis of all civilized society. The native
inhabitant who will be first attracted by commerce, will
imbibe a respect for our institutions, and when he finds that
some of these are destined exclusively (or his own benefit,
while he applauds and respects 4m motive, be will not fail
to pnfit by them. Our civil institutions and political in-
fluence arc calculated to increase the population and wealth
of these countries, and cultivation of mind seems alone
wanting to raise them to such a rank among the nations of
the world as their geographical situation and climate may
admit. And shall we who have been so favoured among
other nations refuse to encourage the growth of intellectual
improvement, or rather shall we not consider it one of our
first duties to afford the means of education to surrounding
countries and thus render our stations not only the seats of
commerce but of literature and the arts ? Will not our best
inclinations and feelings be thus gratified at the same timet
that we are contributing to raise millions in the scale of
civilization. It may be observed that in proportion as the
people are civilized, our intercourse with the islands will
become more genrral more secure and more advantageous ;
that the native riches of the countries which they inhabit
seem inexhaustible, and that the eventual extent of our
Commerce with them must consequently depend on the
growth of intellectual improvement and the extention of
moral principles. A knowledge of the languages of these
countries considered on the most extensive scale, is essential
to all investigation, and may not the acquisition of these be
pursued with most advantage in connexion with some

24 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

defined plan for educating the higher order, of the inhabitant. ?
May not one object mutually aid the other, and the .nter-
est. of philanthropy and literature be beat consulted by
making the advaniages reciprocal ?

There is nothing perhaps which distinguishes the charac-
ter of these Islanders from the people of India more than
the absence of inveterate prejudice and the little influence
Mahomedanism has had over their conduct and mode of
thinking. With them neither civil nor religious insiilutioni
seem to stand in the way of improvement, while the aptness
and solicitude of the people to receive instruction is remark-
able, and in the higher classes we often find a disposition to
enjoy the luxuries and comforts of European life and to as-
similate to its manners and courtesies. The states more ad-
vanced in civilization have embraced the Mahomedan faith,
which still continues to make a slow progress throughout
the Archipelago. This faith was not introduced by eon-
quest but by the gradual progress of persuasion exerted by
active Missionaries on a simple and ingenuous people. It is
on the Mussulman teachers alone that they are at present
dependant for instruction, but these are now comparatively
few and of an inferior order ; many of them little better
than manumitted slaves though assuming the titles of Seids
and Sheiks. When we consider that the whole of the Ar-
chipelago is left open to the views and schemes of these
men, that they promise the joys of paradise in recompense
of the slight ceremony of circumcision, and in this world
exemption from the pains of slavery to which all un-
believers are liable, we may account for the facility with
which conversion is still effected, and the little impression
it makes on the people. Institutions of the nature of
Colleges were formerly maintained by the native princes of
Bantam and in the interior of Java and Sumatra, par-
ticularly at Menangkabau, to which latter a visit was

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

25

considered only less meritorious than a pilgrimage to
Mecca. Theie Colleges liave disappeared with the power of
the naiive government which supported ll.em, and their
place is very imperfectly supplied by the inferior and il-
literate priests who are settled among them, 'l i e want of
an institution of this nature has long been felt and com-
plained of by the higher orders, and a desire has even been
expressed of sending their children to Bengal, but tie
distance and want of means to defray the expense has
generally prevented them from doing so. In an inntance
however in which this has taken place we shall find evi-
dence of the capacity of the people to receive instruction
and are able to form some estimate of the degree of im-
provement to which they might attain if similar advantages
Were enjoyed by all. Shortly after the conquest of Java,
two sons of the Regent of Samarang were sent to Bengal
where they remained only two >ears, but returned to their
native country not only with a general knowledge of the
English language but versed in the elements of general hn-
tory science and literature. Ttie rapid progress made by
these youths not only in these attainments but in their man-
ners, habits and principles, has been the surprize and
admiration of all who have known tl.em. It maybe ob-
served generally wiih regard to Mahomedanism in the
Eastern Islands, that although the mure resectable part of
the population pay some attention to its forms as the estab-
lished religion of the country, they are Jar more attached
and devoted to their ancient traditions and customs, inso-
much that in most of the states the civil code of the Koran
is almost unknown. In many of the countries which have
not yet embraced Mahrtmedanism, rach as those of the
Balius and other interior tribes of Sumatra the Islands along
its Western Coast and the Dayaks of Borneo, it is diffi-
cult to say what are their religious tenets. Faint traces

F

26

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

of Hindni.ni are occasionally discovered, blended with local
and original idea*, and it ha. even been questioned whether
some of them have any religion at all.

The inducements and facilities which are thus afforded,
suggest the advantage and necessity of forming an institu-
tion of the nature of a College, which shall embrace not
only the object of educating the higher classes of the native
population, but at the same time that of affording instruc-
tion to the Officers of the Company in (he native lan-
guages, and of facilitating our more general researches into
the history condition and resources of these countries.

An institution of this kind formed on a simple but res-
pectable plan, would be hailed with satisfaction by the
native chiefs, who as far as their immediate means admit
may be expected to contribute to its support ; and a class
of intelligent natives who would be employed as teachers
would always be at the command and disposal of govern-
ment. The want of such a dais of men has long been felt,
and is perhaps in a considerable degree owing to the ab-
sence of any centre or seat of learning to which tlvey could
resort.

The position and circumstances of Singapura point it out
as the most eligible situation for such an establishment. Its
central situation among the Malay states, and the com-
manding influence of its commerce, render it a place of ge-
neral and convenient resort, while in the minds of the
natives it will always be associated with their fondest recol-
lections as the seat of their ancient government before the
influence of a foreun faith had shaken those institutions for
which they still preserve so high an attachment and rever-
ence The advantage of selecting a plate thus hallowed by
the ideas of a remote antiquity, and the veneration attached
to its ancient line of Kings from whom they are slill proud
to trace their descent, must be obvious.

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION. 27

The objects of such an institution may be briefly stated
as follows :

First. To educate the sons of the higher order of na-
tives and others.

Skcondny. To affurd the mean* of instruction in the
native languages to such of the Company's servant* and
others as may desire it.

Thirdly. To collect the scattered literature and tradi-
tions of the country, with whatever may illustrate their
laws and custom^, and to publish and circulate in a correct
form the most important of these, with such other works
as may he calculated to raise the character of the institution
■nd to be useful or instructive to the people.

The more immediate effects which may be expected to
result from an institution of this nature, have already been
pointed out, and are such as will readily suggest tbemselves.
Native Schools have already been established, and may be
expected to spread in various directions; connected with
these an institution of the nature now proposed is calcu-
lated to complete the system, and by affording to the
higher classes a participation in the general progress of
improvement, to raise them in a corresponding degree and
thus preserve and cement the natural relations of society.
After what has been said, it is needless to enlarge on the
more obvious and striking advantages which must result
from the general diffusion of knowledge among a people so
situated. The natural and certain effect must be the im-
provement of their condition, and a consequent advance-
ment in civilization and happiness. The weakness of the
chiefs is an evil which has been long felt and acknow-
ledged in these countries, and to cultivate and improve
their intellectual powers seems to be the most effectual re-
medy. They will duly appreciate the benefit conferred, and
while it must inevitably tend to attach them more clo*ely te

28 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

us, we shall find our recompence in the stability of their
future authority, and llie general security and good order
which must be ihe result.

There are however some results of a more distant and
speculative nature, which it is impossible to pass over un-
noticed. These relate more particularly to the eventual
abolition of slavery, the modification of their more objec-
tionable civil institutions, particularly tlio6e relating to debts
and marriages, and the discontinuance of the horrid prac-
tices of cauibalism and man hunting, but too prevalent
among some of the more barbarous tribe?, as the Baitu
and Alfoors.

It is almost unnecessary to state, that slavery is not only
tolerated and acknowledged by the Malay law, but until re-
cently it was openly encouraged by the chief European
authority in these seas. Batavia for the last two centuries
has been the principal and fatal marl to which the majority
were carried, and the islands ol Bali, Celebes and Nias are
the countries whence the supplies were principally pro-
cured. Many thousands of the victims of this lawless traf-
fic were annually obtained in much the same manner as on
the Coast of Africa, and the trade has always been a very
profitable one and the principal support of piracy. While
the British were in possession of Java, the act of parlia-
ment declaring the trade felony on the part of its own sub-
jects was made a colonial law ; this prohibition does not ap-
pear to have been repealed, and much benefit may be
anticipated Irom the Batavian Government not sanctioning 1
the practice by its authority. But when we consider the
extent and varied interests of the Archipelago, the number
of aUves still in Java, and the right which every Mahome-
dan exercises according to his ability of converting or
reducing to slavery every unbeliever he meets with, the
extent of the population still unconverted, and the sanction

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

29

given lo Slavery by the Malay custom, we can only look for
the complete remedy of the evil by the extension of our in-,
fluence among the Native states, and the effect* which
a better education may produce on the chief*.

Throughout the greater part of the Eastern states the
Mahomedan law has never been adopted in its full extent.
In some it has been blended wilh the original customs and
institutions, and in others not introduced at all. The lam
regarding debts and marriages are peculiarly illustrative of
this, and however in principle they may have been applica-
ble to a former state of society, are now in practice found
to be in many places highly oppressive and injurious to the
increase of population. This fact is fully exemplified in
the vicinity of Hencoolen, where a large portion of the po-
pulation is reduced to a state little better than that of
actual slavery on account of debts, and fully one-fourth of
the marriageable females remain in a slate of celibacy from
the obstacles which their customs oppose to marriage.
The former arises from the custom which gives the cre-
ditor an unlimited right over the services of the debtor for
any sum however small; in many cases the family ar.d re-
lations of the debtor are further liable in the same manner.
In the case of marriage it may be observed that the daugh-
ters are considered to form a part of the property of the
father, and are only to be purchased from him by the suitor
at a price exceeding the usual means of the men. The
effects of education may be expected lo be felt in the
gradual modification and improvement of these institution^
especially if aided by our influence and example. However
attached the Natives may be to the principles on which
these institutions are founded, experience has proved that
they are by no means unwilling to modify them in practice
on conviction that they are injurious in tendency. In a
recent instance, they readily agreed to lower the price paid

G

30 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

for wives on the advantage of such a measure being urged
and explained to tliem.

On the subject of the barbarous practices alluded to ai
common among the wilder tribes, it may be sufficient for
the present purpose to state that the Battas, a numerous
people having a language and written character peculiar to
themselves, and inhabiting a large portion of the Northern
part of Sumatra, are universally addicted to the horrid
practice of devouring the flesh of their enemies whom they
lake in battle, and that many tribes of the Dayaks of Bor-
neo, and the Alfoors of the further East, are addicted to the
practice of man-hunting solely for the purpose of present-
ing the bleeding head as an offering to their mistresses.
A man is considered honorable according to the number of
heads he has thus procured, and by the custom of the
country such an offering is an indispensable preliminary to
marriage. It is not to be expected that our Schools will
have any direct or immediate influence on people where
such practices are prevalent, but indirectly and eventually,
as the chiefs of the more -civilized states in their neighbour-
hood acquire power and stability, they may be expected
gradually to be brought under their influence and subjected
to the restraints of a better state of society.

From this it will appear how extensive are the advantages
Vo be obtained from educating the higher classes, to whom
alone we can look for extending the benefit* of civilization
to the barbarous tribes who would otherwise be entirely be-
yond the sphere of our influence.

Having now shewn the extent and objects of the propos-
ed institution, the field presented for its operation, and
pointed out some of live advantages which may be expected
to result, it will be sufficient in conclusion to remark, that
the progress of every plan of improvement on the basis of
education must be slow and gradual ; its effects are silent

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

31

and unobtrusive and ihe present generation will probably
past away before ihey are fully felt and appreciated. Few
nations have made much advance in civilization by their
own unassisted endeavours, and none have risen suddenly
from barbarism to refinement. The experience of the
world informs us that education affords the only means of
effecting any considerable amelioration or of expanding the
powers of the human mind. In estimating the results of
any scheme of the kind the advantages must always be in a
great measure speculative, and dependant on the concur-
rence of a variety of circumstances which cannot be fore-
seen. This is admitted to apply with its full force to the
institution in question, but when it is considered that edu-
cation affords the only reasonable and efficient means of im-
proving the condition of those who are so much lower than
ourselves in the scale of civilization, that the want of this
improvement is no where more sensibly felt than in the
field before us, and that the proposed plan has the double
object of obtaining information ourselves and affording
mtruction to others, it will be allowed to be at least calcu-
lated to assist in objects which are not only important to
our national interests, but honorable and consistent with
our national character. A single individual of rank raised
into importance and energy by means of the proposed insti-
tution, may abundantly repay our labour by the establish-
ment of a better order of society in his neighbourhood, by
lite example he may set and by the resources of the country
he may develope. We are not plodding on a barren toil,
and while the capacity of the people for improvement is
acknowledge, the inexhaustible riches of the country are
no less universally admitted.

If we consider also that it is in a great measure to the in-
fluence of Europeans, and to the ascendancy they have
acquired in these seas, (hat the decline of the people in

S3 SINGAPORE INSTITl'TIOST.

wealth and civilization is to be ascribed, and lhat Ihe same
causes have coniributed to take away the means of instruc-
tion they formerly possessed, it is almost an act of duty and
justice to endeavour to repair the injury done them. The
British influence in these seas is already hailed as bringing
freedom to commerce, and support to the independence of
the Native states, and shall we not also afford them the
means of reaping the fruits of these blessings ? Of what
use will it be to protect the persons and raise the wealth
and independence of these people, if we do not also cultivate
and expand their in i mis in the same proportion. Besides
the inducements of humanity, besides the consideration of
what is due to our national character, shall we not best
preserve the tranquillity of these countries and the freedom
and safety of our own intercourse, by improving their moral
and intellectual condition ? shall we not bind them to us by
the firmest of all ties, and build an empire on the rock of
opinion, where we neither wish nor seek for it on any other
principle ?

The object ii to commence an institution which shall
continue to grow and extend itself in proportion to the bene-
fit it affords ; a situation has been chosen the most advan-
tageous for this purpose, from whence as a centre its influ-
ence may be diffused and its sphere gradually extended,
until it at length embrace even the whole of that wide field
whose nature has already been shewn. That it will spread
may be considered almost beyond a doubt ; we know the
readiness and aptness> of the people to receive instruction,
we know that they have had similar institutions of their
own in happier and more prosperous times, and that they
now lament the want of them, as not the smallest of the
evils that has attended the fall of their power. It is to Bri-
tain alone that they can look for the restoration of these ad-
vantages ; she is now called upon to lay the foundation

SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

33

stone, and tliere is little doubt that this once done, the
people themselves will largely contribute to rearing and
completing the edifice.

Hut it is not to remote and speculative advantages that
the effect of such an institution will be confined ; while the
enlightened philanthropist will dwell with pleasure on that
part of the prospect, the immediate advantages will be found
fully proportionate. To afford the means of instruction in
the Native languages to those who are to administer our af-
fairs, and watch over our interests in such extensive regions,
is surely no trifling or unimportant object. In promoting
the interests of literature and science not less will be its
effect; to Bengal, where enquiries into the literature histo-
ry and customs of oriental nations have been prosecuted
with such success, and attended with such important results,
such an institution will prove a powerful auxiliary in extend-
ing these enquiries among the people of the further East.
Many of the researches already begun can only be complet-
ed and perfected on this soil, and they will be forwarded on
the present plan by collecting the scattered remains of the
literature of these countries, by calling forth the literary
spirit of the people and awakening its dormant energies.
The rays of intellect now divided and lost, will be concen-
trated into a focus from whence they will be again radiated
with added lustre, brightened and strengthened by our su-
perior lights. Thus will our stations not only become the
centres of commerce and its luxuries, but of refinement
and the liberal arts. If commerce brings wealth to our
shores, it is the spirit of literature and philanthropy that
teaches us how to employ it for the noblest purposes. It is
this that has made Britain go forth among the nations,
strong in her native might, to dispense blessings to all
around her. If the time shall come when her empire shall
have passed away, these monuments of her virtue will

31 SINGAPORE INSTITUTION.

endure when her triumphs shall have become an empty
name. Let it still be the boast of Britain to write her name
in characters of light, let her not be remembered as the tem-
pest whose course was desolation, but as tde gale of spring
reviving the slumbering seeds of mind, and calling them to
life from the winter of ignorance and oppression. Let th
Sun of Britain arise on these islands, not to wither and scorch
them in its fierceness, but like that of her own genial skies,
whose mild and benignant influence is bailed and blessed
by all who feel its beams.

T. S. RAFFLES.

I